


An Anchor to Reality

by tocasia



Series: Our Shining Past [43]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: AU, Angst, Dramatic Rescue, Earth materia, Gen, Overcoming Fear, Sephiroth and Zack friendship, incredible bravery, interior monologues, mountain climbing, the war in Wutai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 14:36:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14107503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tocasia/pseuds/tocasia
Summary: In Wutai, Zack, with incredible bravery, prevails through the unexpected.(45. ground) for Seph&Zack Friendship 100 Themes





	An Anchor to Reality

He looked down. The fall might be survivable, but not without injury, and if the enemy found him in that state.... Sephiroth thanked his own foresight in his choice of bangle at his wrist. There was no way this glove could slip off.

Mother had absolute faith in his ability to do anything and yes that was comforting and possibly good parenting but not particularly helpful at this time.

The ground had crumbled out from under his feet and now she was doing her best to be supportive with an adamant assertion that he could fly.

He tried to haul himself up with one arm.

Fortunately, he'd brought backup.

* * *

It might be spring soon.

The milk was a little chalky, but not exactly bad. Zack sat in the mess hall listening to forks scraping on plates, holding a mission envelope in his lap. He was a Captain now, and would probably be assigned his first squad tomorrow. He was looking forward to meeting them. The Army was full of all kinds of people from all kinds of hometowns who had all kinds of stories.

What sort of mission would it be? Digging foxholes, er, Defensive Fighting Positions (that was the more technical term) was popular these days.

He'd probably be leading his team to capture additional Earth materia from Wutai gravel technicians. With Quake, Wutai had collapsed the north pass and turned most of the industrial and precious metal mines into deathtraps. They used magic to sculpt cool underground bases and dig their own foxholes and fill-in Shinra's. It was important to relieve the enemy of that resource. High Command was right to put SOLDIER on it, even though some of his buddies complained it was beneath them.

Zack was mentally prepared for anything. He'd be ready and wouldn't panic. He'd save the day. But before he got ahead of himself, it always paid to check the mission details....

He opened the envelope.

This was...!

Zack tried to calm down. He'd been promoted to Second Class on the battlefield, what, a month? maybe two months ago; it was hard to keep track in Wutai, sometimes even of the hours. It hadn't sunk in yet. He hadn't seen the General since.

Shouldn't someone else go? Zack wrestled with doubt.

He took a deep breath. This was SOLDIER. When you were who there was to send, you got the job done.

* * *

General Sephiroth explained the mission.

One of Wutai's charismatic leaders had gone to ground. Turk intelligence had finally pinpointed the bunker's location high in the mountains. It was too high up for most helicopters to fly safely, let alone stealthily. The two of them were to scale the cliff without being seen and eradicate the camp.

Zack bit his tongue so he wouldn't ask, "Why am I here, sir?" That would be pathetic.

He knew he was qualified. He'd climbed a gazillion trees as a kid; the houses in Gongaga had poles instead of stairs. He'd often been picked first whenever there was a climbing section in an obstacle course relay. So it wasn't _that_ weird that he'd been chosen for this.

The climbing gear was in good shape....

"Just the two of us?"

The General seemed amused. "Yes."

* * *

Everything was going fine, and then it all happened so fast.

Loose rock gave way, and General Sephiroth stumbled for solid footing, but there wasn't enough for him to regain balance, he was going to fall, he was falling...!

Zack's thoughts pounded with adrenaline. No! Don't dive after him! There were tons of rational reasons not to! It could knock the General farther over the edge by accident. If he _did_ manage to catch him with his one free hand, the sudden shock of the interrupted fall would probably at least dislocate Zack's shoulder. He couldn't afford to injure himself, too. He _had_ to trust the safety lines to endure that initial force. Hold on!

But somehow, suppressing the instinct to rush and help had sickened him to the core.

"What do I do, sir?" Zack heard himself say, in a lost voice made small by fear.

"Don't let go. Make sure your line's secured, so I don't pull you down with me."

The _General_ didn't sound scared. Of course he wouldn't, to show Zack he didn't have to be, either. The Great General Sephiroth wasn't going to fall off a cliff and Captain Fair wasn't going to let it happen.

"I know it's stressful, but we have to hurry. We're too exposed here."

He'd trained for this. The past few years of his life were a crash course in not panicking, in facing the task ahead of you and completing it as a team. He'd been through _a lot_ in Wutai and survived, he could do this. But Zack's emotions weren't cooperating. Dammit, this was important!

"Pull me up."

It wasn't like the stress of combat....

"You _are_ strong enough. You're a Second Class SOLDIER. Pull me up."

Zack braced himself, redoubled his grip, and pulled in a burst of strength that turned out to be a little too much. But it was okay. Brought safely to his feet, the General became again a perfect picture of composure. He'd weighed hardly anything at all.

"Thank you for the rescue, Zack."

"An honor, sir!" He'd done it, he really was a hero, and even the Great General Sephiroth knew his name!

They pressed themselves close to the cliff, hoping the sheer shrieking wind wouldn't tear them away.

"Are you alright to continue?"

Zack found that, yeah, actually, he was. Confidence returned, but wasn't overbearing. He was a total badass.

"Yessir." He searched the rough stone for viable handholds, more thoroughly than before. "This part looks most stable, we can climb here. Be careful, sir."

Instead of being angry or irritated at the admonishment, General Sephiroth smiled. "Don't worry. I will not slip again."


End file.
